Spreading the word about the growing presence of progressive Alaskans and their powerful ideas on the web

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Do Alaska's So-Called "Progressive Bloggers" Support Gov. Parnell?

When is the last time you saw a post at Just a Girl from Homer, The Mudflats or The Immoral Minority that was critical of Gov. Sean Parnell?

When is the last time you saw a post at one of those blogs detailing the achievements of Alaska civil rights pioneer Diane Benson?

When was the last time you saw any significant attention drawn toward the Alaska governor's race at those blogs?

It was in the fourth week of August.

Since then, they've avoided getting into supporting the Berkowitz-Benson ticket. It's all the U.S. Senate race with an occasional dose of Harry Crawford for U.S. House, 24/7.

Why?

It makes no sense to me. Both Judy and I voted for Sen. Hollis French and Diane Benson in the primary. The next day, though, I was at the Alaska Democratic Party's Unity Dinner, down at Kinkaid Park, donating to Ethan's race. So was Sen. French, where he donated $500.00 to Ethan's campaign. And Hollis is hosting and co-hosting Berkowitz-Benson fundraisers.

Here's what you can do:

Call Shannyn's show at KUDO AM and engage her on the reasons Gov. Parnell should go. There are dozens of them. OK - hundreds!

Comment at The Mudflats in support of Ethan and Diane. Comment at The Immoral Minority in favor of Ethan and Diane.

Go down the issues listed at the Berkowitz and Parnell web sites. Compare them. Which candidate do you prefer?

Encourage Shannyn Moore, Jeanne Devon and Jessie Griffin to support all of our Democratic Party statewide candidates 100% - from now until 9:00 pm, November 2nd.

11 comments:

I'm a conservative and I can't bring myself to vote for that sham of a governor, Parnell. He has no new ideas for Alaska and he's an underhanded puppet of religious politics.

I'm voting for Berkowitz. It'll pain me politically to do that, but morally, I'll be right as rain.

You're right though.. there hasn't been much Parnell-bashing except from Berkowitz. There are probably more voters like me who just want to feel ok knowing that we're not alone in voting for a Democrat this time.

Phil-I can't speak for the Alaskan bloggers you mention but I can speak for myself .It is very, very hard to have much positive to say about Mr Berkowitz'campaign . I disagree with so many of his ideas I can hardly deal with it.I am faced with something I have avoided in almost 40 years of voting... having to think seriously about voting for someone I don't want to get rid of someone I really, really don't want.I know other people have managed to deal with that fairly often but I never have... I've always just left all the ovals blank if I can't stand any of them...I've got a lot of thinking to do before election day because I really, really want Mr Parnell gone.Really, really, really...alaskapi

I'm voting for Berkowitz because Diane is on his ticket. Period. In my opinion, he's out-Republicaning the Republican this time, but if that's what he thinks he has to do to win, then more power to him, I guess. Most of all, I want to see Diane as lieutenant governor, which seems to be the one job that the Democratic Party Establishment will let her have, and so that's how I will vote.

Speaking for myself as a blogger and a cartoonist, as of late all my political time & energy is overshadowed by the senatorial race, which kinda sucks all the air from the room in my skull. It’s tempered with a mix of rare optimism because in McAdams there’s a candidate I can really get behind - as opposed to choosing between lesser evils, or holding my nose going into the voting booth. But Phil’s right about the need to draw some attention and enthusiasm into other crucial races.

I’ll echo what a few other commenters mentioned – having Benson on the gubernatorial ticket is strategically an incredible opportunity. Her 2006 loss is paradoxically a reason to hope in this current race, seeing as how she bagged 40% against Young virtually without anyone in the political apparatus backing her up. So if she can garner such support without, well, support, there’s serious excitement at the prospect of her serving as Alaska’s future governor. Coupled with Berkowitz this duo is set up for a great grudge match for redemption over their respective histories of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

Benson also reminds me of why ten years ago I voted for Winona LaDuke, who in my opinion was a far better presidential candidate than all of the others combined, and why that bumper sticker’s still on my pickup. Even after getting rear-ended by some really bitter Democrats.

I'm much more excited about Diane Benson than Ethan. As a poster said, he's being pretty Republican-y. He was not my choice in the primary by any stretch of the imagination.

I will vote for Ethan and Diane - but I don't feel the excitement like I do over the McAdams campaign which I am helping with as much as I can. I don't have time to volunteer for more than one candidate. I do a better job if I choose one to help, and donate to/vote for the others I would like to see get elected.

It would be good to see some varied blog posts on the gubernatorial race, but I will still be putting my personal energy into the Senatorial race where my candidate of choice is waging a fun campaign. I love his commercials and the positive, stout and determined tone about helping Alaska be Alaska with a long & successful future. We can thrive while keeping our thinking caps on.

I appreciate checking in here regularly and checking up on your posts about Ethan and Diane. Good job!

Ethan has not to my knowledge, reached out to either Shannyn or Jeanne. He has put his finger to the wind and thrown legislative democrats under the bus. ACES is easily defendable, but Ethan kicked it to the curb and that put Ds walking the streets this election cycle in the difficult predicament of explaining why Ethan is WRONG on this.

I personally witnessed Ethan and Mara go out of their way to avoid Shannyn and Jeanne at a union event just after the primary. Ethan could have and should have reached out.

But he won't because of pride. That and the fact that Shannyn sliced and diced him on the radio over ACES.

I hate Parnell but I will hold my nose and vote for Ethan-a person I enthusiastically supported in years past.

Maybe Shannyn and Jeanne haven't talked about Ethan and are actually doing him a favor...if you can't say something nice...

Was it Parnell or Palin who vetoed health care for kids? We know some folks who have a very ill child and they can't afford health insurance. There is no way either French or Berkowitz would have vetoed that bill. There are huge differences between Berkowitz and Parnell. I'm amazed Berkowitz isn't getting more support from your friends; in fact, if I recall correctly, one of them has even opposed Berkowitz. Perhaps they'll go all the way and endorse Parnell.

I'm very surprised that Berkowitz/ Benson are not getting more 'progressive' support. I went to a fundraiser the other day and heard Diane. Powerful person. I see why you have been an enthusiastic supporter. It would be great if she and Ethan got elected, especially considering the other options.

I'm glad I scrolled down and read this older post Phil. I missed it the first time it was posted. For about 3 days I have been meaning to ask the Question you posed here on Palingates to the AK Gators. Joe Miller is an easy mark or foil to pay attention to because he is such a dishonest Clown and his opinions/claims or ideas are so outlandish they make you laugh. BUT... Parnell staying in Office and not getting defeated is just like S.Palin in Office. HER people that SHE put in place are still there. He replaced nobody.HER agenda is still at work. I would think that giving Parnell the Boot is something that affects Alaskans in a more personal way. Parnell is like Palins 2nd term in Office.I see from your fellow AKn's comments that people like Benson.. not so much Ethan. Then talk up (and write about)Diane Benson then. I see NO ONE talking about your Governor's Race. It's puzzling. 4 more years of S. Palin 2.0.. coming up.

Well, I will very reluctantly vote for the Berkowitz/Benson ticket, having serious misgivings about both of the. But they are, after all, Democrats and subscribe, to some extent, to my world view, even if they are three-time losers. I just wish they'd get a job and go away. But Parnell has been a complete disaster (ask the kids) and will get worse with his own "mandate" to fall back on. Sigh.